I’ve been largely absent from this blog for quite some time, happily wrapped up in family life over the lengthy summer holidays, so it seems appropriate that this week’s Gallery theme of ‘Family’ should be the jumping off point to draw me back into the blogging fold. This summer was the first time that my […]

It’s been a stressful couple of months here at Casa Asturian Diary. No time to climb, no time to surf, no time to blog. And I’ve resorted to some time-honoured stress management techniques: eating too much junk, drinking too much wine, and generally not getting enough exercise. (Better coping strategies are available. See: long walks, […]

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It was the last day of our holiday and we had just been smugly congratulating ourselves on how epic-free it had all been. Three mums let loose from their families for a week of climbing together, we had swapped responsibility for little ones for the simple responsibility of getting ourselves from crag to crag […]

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As of last week we find ourselves in the grip of winter. The temperatures have plummeted, wild winds and rain intermittently lash the landscape and the sky seems permanently set to a dead grey tone. The first snow has daubed the mountaintops in the distance. Our wood burner has been pressed into use and already […]

We were an hour away from home, labouriously wending our way up the mountain pass to León in our cumbersome motorhome when Richie happened to mention that he’d eaten some croquetas earlier. Hmmm. I looked at him. ‘I really wish you hadn’t told me that,’ I said. ‘Why? You hungry?’ ‘No. Well, yes actually, but […]

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Last Christmas Granny and Grandad bought a fab kiddy camera for Jack. Rubber encased with chunky buttons and dials that are perfect for chubby little fingers and with great quality photos it’s ideal for the budding toddler photographer. Sadly it now languishes unloved in a cupboard. That’s not to say that the photography bug has […]

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It was a hot, summer’s day way back in the eighties. (Think: hazy Instagram tones, unflattering ra-ra skirts and bad hair. I shall not be supplying a photo.) My best friend Deirdre and I were bored. And what do nearly-teens do when they’re bored? Why experiment of course. This was the west of Ireland, however, […]

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We’re already two weeks in to the school summer holidays in Spain. Yes, the holidays here are loooong, stretching on until around the 10th of September. So far we’ve been to the beach, a river swim spot, the park down the road (lots!), a mini music festival in the mountains and spent hours eating picking […]

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As anyone who has read ‘The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy’ will know, the answer to the ultimate question of life, the universe and everything is, of course As of yesterday, it’s also my answer to the question: ‘How old are you?’ (Hence the cake.) I’m sorry to report, however, that I received no revelatory […]